What Should Buyers and Sellers Do as We Approach the Holiday Market?

Whether you should buy or sell now or wait until the new year in our market depends on what makes sense in your specific situation.

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What can a buyer or seller expect from our market as we approach the holiday season?

We’ve had a lot of clients asking us lately whether they should buy or sell now or wait until the new year. I want to share a few pros and cons from each scenario and tell you what I would advise one of my clients to do.

If you’re a seller thinking you want to sell now, there are a couple things to keep in mind.

First, a lot of the buyers who aren’t motivated to buy during the holiday season will exit the market. That said, the buyers who stick around and continue to look for homes have many reasons for sticking around, and they want to buy before the end of the year. These buyers that stick around are motivated. Although you may deal with fewer buyers looking at your property, the ones who are looking will be submitting stronger offers.

Second, just like a lot of unmotivated buyers are leaving the market, a lot of unmotivated sellers are leaving the market too. This means you’ll have a lot less competition, which will increase the demand for your property and the odds you can sell for a great price.

If you’re a seller thinking you want to wait until the new year to sell, we can only speculate as to whether prices will be higher in the new year, but the way things are going in our market, prices are still going up, so you might get a higher price by waiting. However, everybody else who decided to wait until the new year to sell their home will be listing at the same time you do, which means you’ll face a lot more competition and the demand for your home will be lowered.

As you can see, there really is no “right” or “wrong.” It all boils down to what makes the most sense for you. Now, let’s shift the focus to buyers.

There really is no “right” or “wrong” time to buy or sell.

If you’re thinking of buying now, you’ll have less competition due to the exodus of unmotivated buyers. However, you will also have fewer options to choose from as far as homes go because of the exodus of unmotivated sellers. The homes that will still be on the market, though, will have motivated sellers behind them, so you may be able to sneak in and get one of those properties for a better price.

If you’re thinking of buying in the new year, you’ll face more competition from buyers re-entering the market, which might lead to multiple offer situations. However, you’ll also have more homes to choose from because more sellers will be entering the market as well. If the market continues to go up, prices may be higher.

Whether you’re a buyer or seller and you want to act now or wait until the new year, it’s important to know that it’s almost impossible to time the market perfectly. The best advice I can give to you or any of my clients is this: You need to figure out what makes sense for you. Look at your situation and understand why you’re selling or why you’re buying and put together a strategy with your agent.

If you have any more questions about whether now is the time for you to buy or sell a home or you have any other questions about our Orange County market, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you. Until then, happy selling!

Is It Time for a Dramatic Change?

Sometimes, a home simply doesn’t sell. If you want to put a property that previously expired back on the market, you’re going to need to make a dramatic change.

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Today, I want to address anyone out there who has tried listing in the past but was unsuccessful in doing so. In the industry, we call these expired listings.

When a seller hires an agent for a certain amount of time and their property doesn’t sell for whatever reason, the home is taken off the multiple listing service and the agreement between the agent and seller is cancelled.

Now, these kinds of listings are something I follow closely in our market. Sometimes I see listings that have previously expired go back on the market with the same photos, the same staging, the same price, and maybe even the same agent.

Usually, the same strategy will reap the same results.

Usually, the same strategy will reap the same results. If you tried a strategy for your listing once, it probably isn’t going to work again. You might get lucky, but chances are that it just won’t work out.

So, if you’ve had an expired listing and you want to put the property back on the market, it may be time for a dramatic change.

There are two things you can do to change your outcome. If you don’t want to change anything about the property, you’re going to need to dramatically change the price.

If you don’t want to change the price, then you’re going to need to change the property. Maybe this means hiring a staging company, repainting, or even decluttering. All of these things can help make a visible change for buyers.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why Should You Work With an Agent?

Do you really want a Realtor? You may not think so at first, but today I’ve got a few key points that might change your mind.

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Do you even want a Realtor?

The reality is that if you’re looking to buy a property, you have two options: you can try to take care of everything on your own and interact with the listing agent without representation, or you can do some research and choose a buyer’s agent who’s right for you.

Either way, you’re going to be working with a Realtor. Why not work with one whose job is to represent you? 99% of homes that sell are sold through Realtors, and there’s a reason for that.

Although, what I’ve learned throughout my years of experience is that if buyers could work without agents, they probably would. Most consumers don’t really want to deal with it. Some may not think that there’s such a thing as a good Realtor.

Today, I want to change your mind and let you know that there are so many good Realtors out there. Buying a home is a big decision with a lot of emotional and financial commitments involved. Trying to undergo the process alone simply isn’t the best route to take. After all, the job of an agent is to make things easier for you.

When choosing a Realtor, remember that you should always work with someone who can help navigate you through the process. The right Realtor will have a great relationship with lenders, as well.

If you’re looking to buy a home, why not work with someone who has your best interests in mind instead of defaulting to the listing agent? A buyer’s agent will help you put together a strategy and walk you through the whole transaction. Every step should be made simple and clear with the help of a quality professional.

The alternative is spending a lot of time and effort calling around to different agents, not making any decisions, and ultimately making things a lot more complicated. If you do that, you’ll have 20 different agents all calling and asking if you’re ready to work with them. Why put yourself through the trouble?

If you’re just calling different agents throughout the process without committing to a single Realtor, you don’t have the benefit of working with someone who knows and understands you and your needs. Bouncing from agent to agent means never having the opinion of someone who has seen every step of your transaction.

Also, when you work with the listing agent you need to realize that they were hired by the seller to get the most money for the property possible. That being the case, they aren’t looking out for your needs.

Buying a home is a team effort.

A lot has changed in the market and it’s always important to have an advocate on your side who you know and trust. Buying a home is a team effort. Without a Realtor the process will be overwhelming and inefficient.

Before choosing a Realtor, meet with a few professionals to determine who would be the best for you.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

A True Story About How Buyers Influence Price

Market trends, statistics, and data are all important, but the truth is that homes are actually worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay.

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If you’re a seller, I’d like you to know and understand that a home is worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it. Yes the market statistics, data, and trends are important, but at the end of the day, the buyer’s willingness to pay is key.

To help illustrate this point, I’ve got a short story to share with you.

Recently I was looking at a condo in the Irvine area with a client. This property was priced at $630,000. As soon as my client saw this property, they absolutely fell in love with it.

As it happens, their daughter actually lived in the same neighborhood. Since they were older and had retired, being near family was as important to them as how much they loved the property.

To my clients, the money wasn’t as important as the home itself.

To them, money wasn’t as important as both of these factors. When we ran the numbers, we learned that homes in this neighborhood were selling between $620,000 and $630,000. Even so, the client told me they wanted to offer $640,000.

I knew this number was higher than what would likely be justified by an appraiser, but they didn’t really care. They had the additional funds to cover the difference and didn’t want to take any chances.

The property actually did see a number of other offers, but the sellers didn’t disclose how much they were for. For all we know, our offer might have been the highest. Because of the level of interest in the property, my clients wanted to do everything they possibly could to make sure they won out against the other buyers.

When the sellers sent back their counteroffer, my clients revised their original offer and said they would be willing to pay $642,000. Thankfully, they did get the property.

But as I expected, the property did appraise for slightly less. Still, my clients didn’t have an issue paying the difference. To my clients, the money wasn’t as important as the home itself.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.